Chia Liberty: Live Free or Die!

One of my tasks as super-tech in Dr. Christina's lab was to set up the Chia Statue of Liberty. It hadn't even started sprouting when I left St. Louis, but I received photo-updates every couple of days:

Then I stopped getting updates. A week later I got the bad news: Dr. Christina didn't going into lab for a few days and thus poor Chia Liberty did not get watered.  Most of her luscious green locks died off except for a little bit of mullet left over:

It was a sad day for Liberty.

Hammy the Hamster

Hamster sitting Hammy the Hamster while the family is on vacation for a few weeks.  Hammy kind of freaks me out a little, and I know he doesn't like me that much. (Why this is so, I'm not entirely certain, since the kids grab him in one fist and run around screaming. All I do is feed him treats. But maybe he knows I have an aversion to big-balled animals?)

Regardless, I am grateful that Hammy did not die on my watch.